“He was an All-American type of player tonight,” said UA coach Sean Miller of junior Allonzo Trier, who scored 23 points in Thursday’s win.
By Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star
No. 11 Arizona fell to Colorado on the road three weeks ago in Boulder and since then, the Wildcats haven't lost a game, which includes Thursday's revenge win over the Buffaloes.
This time was more different than the last and it wasn't just because UA played Colorado at home. Sophomore wing Rawle Alkins missed his second game in three games for soreness in his right foot, the same one he broke in September, so Dylan Smith was installed into the starting lineup. And Arizona showed just how valuable Alkins is to the team.
From the start of the first half, Arizona spiraled into a funk, and missed its first seven shot attempts and Colorado's zone gave the Cats fits.
At halftime, the score was tied at 30, but Arizona came out in the second half guns blazing and jumped out to a 12-point lead, but CU cut it to 60-59 with seven minutes left to play.
Arizona's starters, including Smith, combined for 74 points. Dusan Ristic had 15 points on 7 of 8 shooting and Deandre Ayton recorded 20 points going 12 of 12 from the free throw line. Allonzo Trier ended up with a game-high 23 points, in which Sean Miller said the junior guard played one of his best games at Arizona.
"He was an All-American type of player," Miller said.
That's not all Miller said. Miller, Smith and Ristic spoke in the postgame press conference after the win, here's what they had to say.
